Leadership
by Litanya
Summary: Hate can kill, especially under pressure. Sickness strikes one of the digidestined. Can the others help them before it's too late?


Litanya: I do not own Digimon, as much as I would want to. But you all know that if I DID own digimon, it would be a Taiora, NOT Sorato. In this fic the older digidestined are around the age of 16, Joe is 17 and Izzy is 15. Kari and T.K are 13. Oh and because I live in Australia, all temperatures are given in degrees celcius.

**_Leadership_**

_'I'm the one they all look up to. The one that doesn't give in under pressure. The one that makes sure they are going to end up okay. The leader of the group. How on Earth did I manage to get this title? I don't want it, I want to be able to be scared, I want to be able to give in under pressure sometimes and just scream. But I can't. If I give in, then they will all be lost. They all look to me to be strong. They are all allowed to cry, they are allowed to scream and run away in terror. And yet I have to be strong. Why should I care? Why don't I just run away anyway and make them stand up for themselves, make them do what I have been doing for the past three years? Why? Because I don't want anyone else to have to feel this pressure,'_ Tai sat on the bench in the park, waiting for the rest of the digidestined to arrive. Kari was seated next to him, also looking for the others.

"Can I ask you for some advice?" Tai mentally cursed himself, wishing that she hadn't asked him that. He didn't want to give her advice; she knew everything better than him. But still he nodded and grinned at her.

"Of course you can Kari, that's what brothers are for, right? Just tell me what you want to know and I'll see if I can help you," Tai kicked himself mentally. He sounded like an idiot, telling her that he could help her. Of course he couldn't help her, she was better than him.

"I need to know how you are so strong! You seem to be able to lead us with no troubles at all and you never seem to be depressed or sad or anything! Please tell me how to be strong like you!" Kari pleaded, her crimson eyes pleading with him too. Tai froze for a second, not knowing what to say. How could he tell her that he had so many troubles that he couldn't count them all? How could he tell her that every single time one of the digidestined talked to him, he had something else to worry about? He couldn't tell her that. He had to pretend to be strong.

"You are the one of the strongest people I know already Kari. To be strong you have to depend on people and let them help you. That is the only way to be a strong person," he felt like a hypocrite, telling her to do things that he himself would not do.

"But I never see you do that and you are the strongest person I know. You don't have any troubles at all and I want to know how you manage to do that!" Kari didn't doubt his advice, but she wanted to know who he talked to. She thought that she had a lot of troubles, but she didn't even have half as many troubles as Tai had. 

"I depend on people," was all that he said, which didn't answer Kari's question.

"But who do you depend on? I depend on you to help me, but I have never heard any of your troubles, if you even have any."

"I depend on all of the digidestined in different ways. I don't have any troubles, as you said before, but that is only because I trust all of you and I depend on you," Tai lied, knowing that if Kari depended on everybody she would end up with no troubles at all. If only he could do that . . . no, he couldn't. If he told all of his troubles to people, then they would get afraid and then they would fall apart. Leaders weren't allowed to have trouble with anything.

"Hi guys!" they turned to see Matt and T.K entering the park about twenty meters away. T.K was the one that had called out and soon they had arrived at the bench where the two Kamiyas were sitting. Matt leant against the tree next to the bench, with his guitar slung over one shoulder. T.K sat next to Kari and the two youngsters instantly started a discussion about school.

"Anything new that we have to worry about?" Matt asked Tai, putting his guitar on the ground at his feet. Tai wished that he didn't have to be there. He wished that he was sitting in his room, listening to the radio in the dark. Then he wouldn't get asked questions and he wouldn't have to talk to anybody.

"Nope, there is nothing to worry about as of yet. The Dark Ocean has stopped trying to get Kari for the time being and there has been no word from the Digital World," he replied, keeping his voice as carefree as possible. Matt shrugged; glad that he wouldn't have to miss band practice again. He didn't notice his friend's gloomy mood; he thought that Tai was just as carefree as usual.

"Cool, my band really needs to rehearse tonight. I'll have to leave here in about half an hour. So, how are you?" Matt hadn't seen Tai since the meeting last week because he had been off school sick, so he hadn't seen Tai or any of the other digidestined other than T.K. 

"I'm fine, nothing has been happening, so yeah. How about you? Are you over the flu yet?" Tai hated lying, but he always had to these days. When he had had a cold a few weeks ago, he had been mobbed with phone calls from the other digidestined; all asking him how he was and that they hoped that he would be better soon. He had been sick and yet they had all still phoned and told him about their problems and then mobbed him with their good wishes. He had decided after that that he would never get sick ever again. At least not while he still knew the digidestined.

"Yeah, I've been okay since yesterday, but my father is still insisting that I'm not okay. He's too over-protective at the minute; it's like he won't even let me breathe without his permission," Matt went on to explain the difficulties that he was having with his father. When they had first become digidestined Matt wouldn't have opened up to anybody, but after their time in the Digital World he talked more freely with everyone, telling them his problems. Well, he told Tai his problems. Matt also told his girlfriend Melissa everything, but he trusted Tai to give him advice on things, just because Tai was the leader. 

"I'm sure that your dad just cares about you. Just talk to him and then maybe he'll understand," Tai stood up from the bench, feeling suddenly sick, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Where are you going Tai?" Kari and T.K asked, stopping their conversation to watch him.

"I'm just going to the toilets, I'll be back in a minute," Tai forced himself to walk instead of running there. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he held it in until he reached the toilet. He was shaking badly and he felt terrible, but he was wondering how he could become so sick in one second. He had been feeling fine and then all of a sudden he had felt sick. He leant his head against the cool metal door of the toilet, feeling a little better now that he had been sick. He was still shaking though and he felt unusually hot. 

_'I can't be sick, not now, especially when we have a meeting! Why am I sick now? Why couldn't I wait to be sick until next year or something?'_ he thought to himself, before washing his hands and face. He wished he could go home, but he had to stay for the meeting. If he didn't he would only be mobbed once again with phone calls. He walked slowly back to the bench to find that they were all there waiting for him. 

"Are you alright Tai?" Joe asked him as he came back.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just saw someone that I knew, that's all," they seemed to be satisfied by his answer and the meeting began. It was only a ten-minute meeting each week, to make sure they kept in touch and so if anything went wrong they would be able to contact each other.

"Has anyone seen anything strange lately?" Tai asked, leaning against another tree. He couldn't seem to keep his balance, so he had to lean against something to make sure he didn't fall over.

"No, I haven't seen anything," Sora replied, and the others repeated her statement.

"Okay then, we don't really have anything to talk about then! I have to go," Tai left quickly, and the others stared after him, wondering why he was acting so weird. 

"Kari, is Tai okay?" Sora asked the younger girl, who was staring after her brother too.

"He was fine until about ten minutes ago when he left before. Maybe he is just sick or something. I'll go find out," she ran after Tai, intent on finding out what was wrong. 

"Well, I guess that we'd all better leave then. See you guys later!" Matt picked up his guitar and left, with the others following suit, all wondering what was wrong with their leader.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

"Hey Tai, wait up!" he stopped and turned at his sister's call, wishing that he hadn't. He was feeling sick again and he just wanted to get home. But still he waited until Kari caught up with him before he started walking again.

"Hey Kari."

"What's wrong? You just suddenly needed to leave. You're not sick are you?" she didn't see that he was shaking, didn't see that his cheeks were paler than normal. She just hoped that he wasn't sick, because when he was she couldn't help but worry about him.

"Nah, I'm not sick, I just remembered that I have an essay due in tomorrow that I haven't done," again Tai was aware that he was lying, but he didn't want her to worry. They walked the rest of the way to their apartment in silence, for which Tai was glad. He wasn't feeling well and if he spoke, he would just lie more. When they arrived home their mother was there to greet them. Unlike Kari she noticed Tai's pale cheeks and saw that he was shaking.

"Tai, why didn't you come home straight away if you weren't feeling well? And don't try to deny that you are sick, I can see that you are just by looking at you!" Mari Kamiya exclaimed, putting her hand on her son's forehead, "You have a temperature too, now go off to bed right this minute!" Tai knew better than to argue with his mother, so he went straight to his room and changed out of his school uniform. He was relieved that his mother had taken over because it meant that he didn't have to be in control anymore, which is what he liked. Leading people was too hard, but he couldn't give it up for even five minutes without a reason.

"Now here, put this in your mouth until it beeps!" Tai obediently put the thermometer in his mouth, with his mother watching him carefully. In the background he could see Kari watching him worriedly and he felt guilty for being sick. Now Kari would worry. He hated making her worry because she would keep on worrying for days afterwards. And he had lied to her. Lying to her was almost as bad as making her worry. The thermometer beeped and he took it out of his mouth and gave it to his mother.

"38.3! No wonder you are sick, your temperature is very high! You are supposed to have a temperature of 37! You are staying in bed until your temperature goes down," Mari pushed him so that he was lying in his bed before she turned and left the room, "Go to sleep now and you'll feel a bit better when you wake up!" She closed the door behind her and Tai was plunged into darkness. He finally relaxed, but he couldn't sleep. He was still shaking and he couldn't stop worrying about Kari. Kari would be worrying about him and he hated making her worry. Then he was worrying about the others. They would be worrying about him too. Sleep eluded him as he couldn't stop worrying. He had no idea how long he was awake, but it seemed like it was forever. His shaking grew steadily worse and worse until his bed was banging softly against the wall because his shaking was moving it as well. And still he couldn't sleep because he was worrying. What if the Dark Ocean came after Kari because she was too busy worrying about him to think? 

"Tai, are you feeling better now?" Mari opened the door and saw that Tai's eyes had glazed over a little and he was shaking even more than when she had left him, "Tai?" She was more than a little scared when he failed to reply. She put her hand up to his forehead again and it was hotter than it had been before.

"Kari! Can you come here for a second!" she called to her teenage daughter, who ran into the room as soon as she had been called. Kari stopped short as she saw her brother, her eyes going wide in fear.

"Kari, I need you to bring me the phone, quickly," the girl nodded and managed to get the phone to her mother in about thirty seconds, before standing and staring at her brother again. This time she could see how pale he was and she was _*definitely*_ aware that he was shaking. She was scared. Tai was so strong and it scared her that he could get so sick. The worst sickness that Tai had had before had been a cold, and even then he hadn't been affected very much. To see him like this scared her very much. Her mother dialed the number for the ambulance (000 in Australia) and Kari watched her brother go worse and worse and worse. He was so pale by the time that Mari had finished on the phone that he looked like a ghost.

"Mum, what's wrong with Tai?" Mari looked from Tai to her daughter and sighed.

"I don't know Kari; he seemed to be fine before. He has just gotten worse since I sent him in here to sleep. I just hope that he is okay," Mari was worried about Tai, as any mother would worry about her son. He had been fine before and she couldn't help but wonder why he had suddenly gotten so ill. 

"Kari, did Tai tell you that he wasn't feeling well?"

"No, he told me that he was fine! I didn't even notice he was sick until we got home," she admitted, feeling guilty that she hadn't noticed. There was a knocking at the apartment door and Kari rushed to open it.

"Where is the patient?" the ambulance officers asked, and Kari motioned for them to follow her. When they reached Tai they went to work quickly, putting him on a stretcher and taking him to the ambulance. Mari followed them, telling Kari to stay home and tell Alexi, Kari's father, where they were when he got home. Kari nodded, hoping that Tai would be okay, but worrying deeply about him.

_'I hope you are okay Tai! This is all my fault. If I had just realised that you were sick I wouldn't have let you go to the meeting!'_ Kari thought to herself as she watched the ambulance drive away. She ran back into the apartment and picked up the phone, dialing in a number.

"Hi Mrs. Takaishi, is T.K there?"

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

_'I must be a good leader; I must make sure that nobody is worried. I can't be sick because then they will worry. I can't show any weakness because if I do they will think that they are too weak. If they believe that I am strong and then I show that I am weak, what will that do to them? I cannot get sick; I have to show them that I am okay. They will worry and I hate people worrying. I know what it is like to worry and it isn't what I would wish on others. I can't be sick._ Tai was no longer aware of his surroundings. He couldn't tell if he was shaking, he couldn't really feel anything. All he could do was think. _Kari will be blaming herself now for me being sick and then she will call everyone else and then I will be mobbed with phone calls about getting better and yet I will still be told how much they need me. Why can't they leave me alone? I just wish that everyone would tell their problems to someone else and that they would leave me alone with my own problems._

"Tai!" he was jolted out of his thoughts for a second by hearing the voice, but he found that he couldn't respond to it. He didn't even know who the voice belonged to. _Who is that? I've never heard their voice before. Great, now another person is worrying about me and I don't even know them. How long will it be before they all leave me alone? I can't take all of their problems anymore!_

"Tai, can you hear me?" _Yes, I can hear you! Now go away! But his body wouldn't make him speak so that he could tell her that. It was almost as though he wasn't in his body at all._

"What's wrong? Why won't he respond?" Tai could hear his mother's voice, edged with worry and he felt more guilty. _Look at me, I'm being selfish again. They are worrying about me because I am sick, so I have to get better. I shouldn't make people worry about me! But even as he thought this he began to feel worse, as though he was getting further and further away from everyone._

"We're not sure. We're going to have to run a few tests, but his sickness isn't like anything we have seen before. He just seems to get worse and worse every second," it was the unidentifiable voice again. _That doesn't sound too good. Tests, those will make everyone worry even more! Why am I caring? I shouldn't be the one worrying! I shouldn't be worrying, but I am. Why? It's their problem if they are worried. No it isn't though. It's my problem. I'm their friend and I'm sick. That will make them worry. I don't want them to worry because it is the worst thing in the world. I hope they aren't worrying about me! They don't deserve to have the bad feeling of worrying. I should be stopping them from worrying, not making them worry!_

"Is he going to be okay? He was fine up until about six hours ago! I hope that he is going to be okay!" _Don't worry mum! I'm okay, I'm just drifting around somewhere in my own little world. I'm not sick, I'll be fine!_

"We're not sure if he'll be okay. But we'll try our best to help him. We just don't know what is wrong. Without that knowledge, we cannot treat him," _treat me? Am I at the doctor's or something? But I haven't moved! I'm fine, really! I'm fine, so why did they take me somewhere? I'm . . . fine . . . really! I am just very cold all of a sudden, but that must be because I am outside. Well, I must be outside. I can't be inside when I'm this cold._

He could hear his mother begin to sob and he wanted to comfort her. He wanted to do _*something*_ other than just lay there. 

"Is Tai going to be alright?" he cringed inwardly as he heard Sora's voice filled to the brim with worry. It sounded like she was crying too. _Don't cry Sora! I didn't want to worry you the most out of everybody. I have to be strong; I'm supposed to be strong for Sora and everyone! Sora shouldn't be crying, I should be strong for her! I am a failure as a leader! Leaders don't make the people that depend on them worry. They'd be better off without having me as a leader. Sora or Matt are capable of being the leader I am not, and even Joe has more leadership abilities than me._

"Why are all these machines beeping? What's going on?" Tai felt as though his head was ripping open from all of his thoughts and the cry of his little sister. _It isn't my fault. . . it happened after we were in the Digital World. Wait a minute. What happened after the Digital World? Something important happened, but what? Maybe if I can remember. . ._

"It's okay, we've managed to stabilize him for the moment, but we need to run a lot more tests to find out what is going wrong. Is he allergic to anything or does he have anything like diabetes or epilepsy or leukemia?" 

"No, he doesn't have anything wrong with him, but he is allergic to penicillin. What do you think it is?" _Mum, it's only that poison finally taking effect. What poison? I wasn't poisoned, was I? I can't remember! But even if I did remember, I can't tell anyone anyway. I'm hopeless. Helpless. I'm just making people worry and I can't even fix it. What good am I now that I can't do anything?_

"It's not like anything that we've seen before. It's almost like a type of poison, but we have never seen a poison like this," _Poison that has been at work since the Digital World. Piedmon's attack. Coated with poison. Missed Wargreymon and hit me. Poison buried deep inside. Slowly been working for the past three years. Poison. Time running out. Help._

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

The digidestined sat around outside the hospital room, each destined deep in their own thoughts. Matt was fingering his guitar case, as he hadn't had time to go home after his band practice. The band had practiced for four hours as they had a concert later that week. He had been walking when he had gotten a call from Kari, to tell him to go to the hospital. He was very worried about Tai and was kicking himself for not realising that something had been wrong with his best friend.

T.K sat with Kari, trying to comfort the crying girl. Kari was still blaming herself for Tai's illness and she couldn't stop crying. T.K was trying his best to comfort her, but he was worried about Tai too. Tai was his idol and he strived to be like him. He knew that Tai wouldn't want Kari to cry, so he was trying his best to comfort the girl, but to no avail.

Izzy was glued to his computer, trying to find something that would help to identify what was wrong with Tai, but so far he wasn't having any luck. He was worried about his friend, but he preferred to show his worry by trying to find a cure for whatever Tai had. He didn't want to let his buddy down.

Joe was talking with his father, who was a doctor, whilst trying to comfort Mimi at the same time. Mimi was wringing her hands in her lap, worrying about her friend, with tears running down her face. Joe was trying to stop her from hurting her hands whilst carrying on a conversation with his father. They were all stumped on how this could happen to Tai so suddenly and they had no idea what it could be. Mimi was worrying because she loved her friends and she knew that Tai helped her keep in perspective sometimes.

Sora sat by herself, a little way away from everyone else. She was worrying about Tai, but she refused to let herself cry.

_'The last thing that Tai would want me to do is cry, but I feel so helpless! Tai is my best friend in the whole world and I care for him more than anything. He has looked after all of us and helped us with our problems with no thoughts of himself. He must have been so packed with problems that he was depressed, but he would never show it. Now he's in hospital with some sickness and no one can help him. If he dies, I don't know what I'd do. I care about him too much. . . Please don't let him leave me! He has to survive! He's survived so much, it would be terrible if he died now! Please God, let us help him,'_ tears came to her eyes, but she blinked them away. She wanted to be strong. Tai would never give up, so she wouldn't either.

**_[Please, help!]_** Sora looked up at the people around her, but none of them seemed to hear the call for help. _'I must have imagined it.'_ She thought to herself, shaking her head.

**_[Please help!]_** Once again no one else had moved or seemed to hear the voice pleading for help. Sora thought that it sounded a lot like Tai's voice, but she had never heard Tai sound desperate.

**_[Poison. . . from Piedmon. . . been working for three years. . . help!]_** That was definitely Tai. Who else would know about Piedmon? She didn't know how Tai was contacting her, but she tried to contact him somehow.

**_{What do you mean?}_**

****

**_[_****_Battle_****_ with Piedmon. His attacks poisoned. Slow poison that accelerates over time. Been working for three years, almost finished. Please hurry!]_ Sora sat up straighter in her seat, causing Matt to look over at her.**

"What's wrong Sora?"  She looked at him blankly for a second, before snapping back to reality.

"Poison. Piedmon's attack was covered with a slow working poison. Tai must have been hit with one of Piedmon's attacks. The poison on it works extremely slowly then accelerates over time," the digidestined all stared at her, wondering how she knew all of that.

"I remember that one of Piedmon's attacks missed Wargreymon and hit Tai, but how do you know that is what is wrong with Tai?" Izzy actually looked up from his computer screen whilst saying this, before typing in something into his computer again.

"I'm not really sure, but Tai told me."

"When did Tai tell you? That would mean that we would have known about the poison before now and we could have stopped it!" Kari cried, annoyed with Sora because she believed that the girl could have stopped all of this from happening.

"Actually Kari, he told me just a minute ago. I know that that sounds strange, but I had a little voice in my head that told me what was wrong, and it sounded like Tai! I know that it sounds crazy, but it's true!" they just looked at her as if she had gone mad with worry. That is, until Izzy cried out triumphantly.

"She's right! Piedmon's attack is laced with a poison that is extremely slow working. It supposedly accelerates when the victim is under a lot of pressure and hasn't slept much, but it doesn't do anything until then. . ." Izzy's voice went slower and slower as they all realised that their carefree leader wasn't as carefree as they thought he was.

"But Tai wasn't under pressure, was he?" Mimi asked in a quiet voice, wringing her hands again, and this time Joe didn't try to stop her.

"He would have been. We all talk to him when we have a problem because he seems to not have a care in the world. We unconsciously go to him with our problems because he doesn't seem to have any whilst everyone else seems to be preoccupied. He must have heard so many problems and then added them to his own. . . he must have been under a lot of pressure. No wonder the poison accelerated!" Sora looked guilty as she said this, and her expression was mirrored on all of the digidestined.

"I guess we did do that," Joe admitted, pushing his glasses up his nose. His dad had left the room before Sora had spoken, so now he grabbed Mimi's hands to stop her from wringing them. Izzy had continued to read on down the page.

"Uh, oh," was all he would say. They all looked at him.

"Uh oh is not good. What's wrong?" T.K. asked tensely, knowing that Izzy wouldn't have spoken unless it was important.

"It says here that there is no known cure for the type of poison that Piedmon uses as none that have been hit by his attacks have survived. They only know about the poison in Piedmon's attack because he boasted about it and how there was no cure," Izzy said slowly, hitting the screen of his lap top softly. They looked at each other, disappointment and despair showing on every face.

"So my brother is going to die?" Kari cried loudly, causing people at the other end of the hallway to look at them with sympathy.

"No, he can't! H-he can't die!" Sora rushed out of the hallway and out of the hospital, not listening to the cries of the other digidestined, telling her to stop. She raced to the park and collapsed onto a bench, the same bench where they had all met earlier that day.

_'Tai can't die, he means too much to me!'_ she looked around at her surroundings and her eyes fell on the huge red slide. That was where she and Tai had been playing and he had broken his arm. . .

_~FLASHBACK~_

_Two seven year olds sat at the top of the slide, talking about their day in second grade._

_"I learnt how to add 8 and 7 today!" Sora exclaimed proudly, "See? Eight plus seven equals fifteen!" She giggled happily and Tai grinned at her._

_"That's great! The teacher taught us how to add, but I forgot," he admitted, turning a light pink._

_"I'll teach you, then you won't forget!" Sora grabbed his hand and began explaining about how to add up. Tai caught on pretty quickly and soon he was able to add seven and eight with no problems._

_"Thanks Sora! I can show Kari this when I get home! She'll be so pleased!" Sora giggled and turned to the slide._

_"Last one down the slide is a rotten egg!" the two of them raced to be the first to the slide, but Tai lost his balance. Instead of going down the slide, he fell off the top and fell to the ground, landing hard on his left arm. The bone was shattered and that was why he would wear his black armband later in life. Sora raced down the slide and then came to sit beside him, calling for her mother to help._

_"It's okay Sora, I'm alright as long as you're here!" he exclaimed as Mrs. Takenouchi ran over, "You're my best friend and you always will be. We'll be best friends forever!" Sora had only nodded, sad at having caused her best friend to break his arm. . ._

_~END OF FLASHBACK~_

More tears came to her eyes as she remembered that incident. They had promised to be best friends _*forever* not just until they were sixteen. He had to live, she wouldn't be able to live without him._

"Sora, why are you crying?" she looked up and saw a girl with long brown hair and kind brown eyes. It was Melissa, Matt's girlfriend. She tried to stop her tears, but she caught sight of the red slide again and tears kept on coming to her eyes. Melissa came over to the bench and sat next to Sora, giving her a big hug.

"T-Tai is going to die and I don't want him to!" she felt like a baby when she said that, but Melissa seemed to understand.

"How do you know that he is going to die? He may just be very sick and the cure may be within you. Don't give up on him, Tai is strong and he will pull through this. All you need to do is look inside your heart and you'll find the answer," Melissa's words seemed to make a lot of sense to Sora, for some reason. She looked deep down within herself and she finally found why she cared so deeply about Tai.

"Thanks Melissa, I guess I really needed to think about it. You're a really great friend. Thank you," she quickly said goodbye and rushed back to the hospital, ready to speak to Tai. Melissa smiled before disappearing in a flash of light, a white feather falling on the ground.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

_Sora's coming, only she can cure this stupid poison. Why on Earth did Piedmon poison his attacks with hate? That's easy to cure, but only if you have the person you love nearby. Stupid Piedmon, he could at least have made the poison more exciting. Well, I suppose it _does_ hurt a lot. Not to mention it worries a lot of people. Why are they still worrying? Don't they know that there is a cure? Oh yeah, I forgot. They don't know that there is a cure. Well, I guess they'll see soon enough. Well, she'd better get here soon anyway. I don't know how much longer I have. How do I know where Sora is anyway? I guess it must just be a sixth sense or something. Well, since I have nothing better to do, lets count sheep. One sheep, two sheep, hey, these sheep look real! I think I'm losing my mind! What do Kermit the frog and Alexander the Great have in common? They have the same middle name! How do you win a race? You run faster than everybody else! He he, I'm laughing, now I'm flying. I'm delirious._

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Sora arrived at Tai's hospital room and ignored the calls of the digidestined around her. She walked straight into his room, passing his parents who took one look at her determined face before leaving the room, closing the door behind them.

"Tai, I know what's wrong with you and you know that I know. I also know the cure. You know it too. What I'm about to say it is true and I'm not lying, okay? I love you. Not just as a friend, I love you more than a friend. I'm in love with you. I guess it's lucky that this room has no windows," she leant over and kissed him on the lips, hoping against hope that this would work. It was a bit like sleeping beauty, except for the fact that it was a guy being woken up by a kiss from a princess. At least that was what was running through Sora's mind. Tai didn't move, even after she kissed him. Sora had been expecting this though.

"Tai, you have to discover what you have in your heart, otherwise this poison will win. Please Tai, I know that you can do this!" _I can do this, I can wake up. All I have to do is discover what is in my heart. Let's see. . . Wait a minute, that's it! I LOVE SORA! I'm in love with Sora, that's what is in my heart! This poison cannot kill me because I am in love!_

"Come on Tai!" Sora whispered, watching him for any reaction. After a minute or so, Tai stopped shaking and a little colour returned to his cheeks. He opened his eyes slowly, looking a little confused as to where he was.

"W-where am I? Last thing I remember is. . . mum sending me to my room," Sora laughed as she saw that he was okay and she gave him a big hug.

"You scared all of us! You're in hospital Tai, you were poisoned by Piedmon's attack, remember?" 

"Oh, yeah, I remember now. It's funny the things you find out when you listen to the little voices in your head," Tai grinned slowly, sitting up so he could see the room better, "I heard what you said before, and I want to tell you something. I love you too!" She leaned down and they shared their first true kiss.

"I'd better go and tell the others that you are alright! They all think that you're going to die!" Tai rolled his eyes.

"As if I would do that!" Sora laughed and went out to tell the others that Tai was okay. They came into the room and crowded around the bed, everybody talking at once. Matt looked over at all of the machines in the room, studying to see what they were. He tripped over one of the wires and catapulted into a strange looking machine, which broke, exposing the inside of the machine. Since it was turned on, Matt was thrown back against the wall behind him, after being electrocuted by the surge of electrical power. The other digidestined watched in horror as Matt was burnt badly, not being able to believe what they were seeing. Joe rushed to Matt's side, only to find that his friend had been killed. Out of nowhere a note appeared.

**_One death exchanged for another._**

They looked at each other, a little unnerved by what was going on, but they knew that there was no point in crying. Matt wouldn't want them to do that, and they knew that he would become an angel in heaven. Who knows, maybe he was watching over them at that minute. 

Tai was holding Sora's hand, Mimi was being held by Joe, Izzy was talking to a girl called Sari and Kari was safe in T.K's arms. And somewhere in the land of the dead, Matt was with Melissa, the angel who helped save Tai. 

The End

Okay, that ending was bad I know, but I wanted to kill Matt off. This fic is dedicated to my friend Melissa, even though she would kill me for killing Matt. Melissa, you are a great friend and a great house captain and thank you for introducing me to this site! Anyway, please review and if you like Matt, I'm sorry for killing him off but at the moment I don't like him because in 02 the writers got it wrong and put Sora with Matt. Please R+R!! 


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